Shimmering Scales
by Melting Angels
Summary: Whilst on a boating trip to celebrate graduating college, our favorite team make a strange discovery, one that will make them questions which myths are, in fact, part of reality.


**Hello all. This is among nearly 200 story drafts that I have on my phone, and I posted it on tumblr last year. It has garnered 72 notes, so I thought I would post it on here as well. I hope you love it as much as the tumblr Hijack fans.**

_A second part is being written soon!_

Enjoy ~

* * *

"HICCUP HADDOCK! If you don't get your ass down here this instant, we're leaving without you!"

Hiccup groaned as Astrid's shouting abruptly woke him.

"IM UP, ASTRID! Geez." Hiccup shouted back.

Stretching, Hiccup dragged himself out of bed. Stumbling around the room, he quickly dressed, in simple green swim trunks, and a matching wetsuit shirt.

"COME ON, HIC!" Astrid yelled. "I HAVENT SEEN YOUR SORRY ASS IN SIX MONTHS! DONT MAKE IT SEVEN!"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" Hiccup retorted, slinging on his backpack, and hastily slipping on flip-flops. Grabbing two sports bags, and the case containing his fishing equipment, he rushed downstairs, quickly pocketing his mobile phone.

"Son, you be safe out there. Call every night." Stoick patted Hiccup's shoulder awkwardly.

"Yeah, dad. I will." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Hiccup?" Astrid gaped.

"Astrid!" Hiccup turned to face his childhood friend. "Woah! I'm taller than you!"

Astrid swiftly punched him in the stomach.

"Don't get cocky." Astrid smirked. "You know, shrimp, I actually missed you."

"I missed you too Astrid." Hiccup grinned.

"C'mon, the guys are waiting at the port." Astrid rolled her eyes, hands on her hips, wearing a black wetsuit.

"Hiccup, keys." Stoick threw him the boat keys.

"Yeaah I might need those." Hiccup nodded to Stoick, before jumping into the passenger seat of Astrid's blue convertible, dumping his bags in the back.

Astrid got in beside Hiccup, and the two waved at Stoick before driving off, the cool summer breeze rushing through their hair.

"Fifth annual fishing trip!" Hiccup grinned goofily, hastily combing his hair, after noting how messy it looked.

"Diving too. And snorkelling. Snotlout got his dad to lend him the gear. The twins bought the food this year, seeing as your dad is fuelling the boat, and you've got most of the gear we need." Astrid smiled.

"Sweet. So, a whole month on the boat, huh?" Hiccup leaned back in his seat.

"Mhm. Well, it's our fifth annual trip, its gotta be special. 'Sides, Hic, we're all done with college. Celebrations are in order." Astrid turned the car into the port's car park. "I can't wait to see Snotlout's face when he realizes you're taller than him now!"

"Only by a couple of inches, Astrid." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"GUYS!" Fishlegs ran over, panting.

When Hiccup got out of the car, he abruptly stopped. Fishleg's mouth dropped.

"Hiccup! Dude!" He rushed over, and fist-pumped the green eyed teen. "Looking good!"

"Thanks, Fishlegs." Hiccup grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, Astrid? My mom says she'll take your car back for you." Fishlegs turned to Astrid, who nodded.

"Fishlegs, slow down." Fishlegs mother joined them, rather out of breath. "Hiccup! You've grown."

"I know." Hiccup blushed as he pulled on his backpack, balancing all his equipment.

"Thanks for looking after my car, Mrs Ingerman." Astrid smiled, hanging the woman her car keys, also balancing her bags.

"No problem, Astrid sweetheart." Mrs Ingerman smiled warmly.

"We better be going." Fishlegs glanced at his waterproof watch.

"You have a good time!" Mrs Ingermen called as they rushed off. "Call me every night, son!"

After several minutes, they finally reached where Stoick's boat was docked, a luxurious, modern ship that had all the bells and whistles, standing out from the speedboats either side of it.

"Finally!" Snotlout stood up, from where he had been previously sitting on the wooden docks, wearing similar swimming gear to Hiccups, just in a dark blue.

"You guys took forever." Tuffnut complained. He went shirtless, unashamedly.

Ruffnut elbowed him, wearing a simple black, short wetsuit. She blinked upon noticing Hiccup.

"Snotlout, the shrimps taller than you now." Astrid grinned.

"He is not." Snotlout marched up, only to see that Hiccup was indeed several inches taller. "I've still got more muscle."

"Good to see you too, 'muscles'." Hiccup rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Tuffnut snorted.

Snotlout rolled his eyes back, smirking, but nodded and grinned. He turned back to the boat.

"So, we getting on or not?" Ruffnut raised an eyebrow.

Hiccup put down his bags, and got out the remote-like keys for the boat. Pressing a button, he grinned as the door in the side of the boat opened, stepping back as the slope slid down, before fastening securely to the edge of the dock.

"Definitely bigger than the photos you sent." Astrid shook her head before walking up the slope, and disappearing into the boat.

"It is good to see you, fishbone." Ruffnut grinned as she followed after Astrid, helping her brother to push in the huge trolley of food.

Hiccup waited until the two returned for their bags, before he and Snotlout followed, also dragging their heavy bags. Once they were all inside, Hiccup pressed another button, and the slope slid back, under a panel in the floor, and the door closed.

"Dude..." Snotlout whistled.

Hiccup turned round, and also gaped. The ship was even more impressive in real life. The small hallway led into a huge lounge, with plush sofas, and an equally large television. Glass display cabinets of movies and games lined the walls, along with tasteful paintings and posters. There was a circular platform with a modern round table, and the kitchen, also a respectful size, opened up into the lounge. Two large glass sliding doors opened up onto a balcony, which went all around the ship. At the bow of the boat, the balcony widened, and they were surprised to see a hot tub there.

"Hey, there's a note for you." Tuffnut handed Hiccup a note he had found on the table.

Raising an eyebrow, Hiccup proceeded to read the note aloud, at the urging of his friends, who now held mischievous glints in their eyes.

"Son," Hiccup began reading. "This boat is my gift...to you. I want to make up for treating you so bad. I'm proud of you, I know I don't say it enough. Just know that I am. You passed your Boating, Engineering, and Mechanics courses four years early. Your mother would be proud. I know this doesn't excuse my behavior...but I hope it helps to show..even a little...how sorry I am. I'm going to stop writing now, or you'll think I've gone soft. Can't have that."

"Its double sided." Snotlout noted.

"Fuel tank is completely full, and I've made arrangements for you and your friends to have the uh...small island, Berk, to yourselves this month. Take care of yourself, or you'll never hear the end of it." Hiccup's jaw dropped. He looked at his friends. "You guys knew?"

"Keeping quiet is not natural for me." Tuffnut grinned.

"Stoick told us a week ago." Astrid shrugged.

"Dude, this is your boat. This is pretty cool." Snotlout elbowed Hiccup, smirking.

"Well...let's unpack. Then we can get going. Berk awaits!" Hiccup grinned.

* * *

It took a full hour for everyone to unpack, get the solar power going, and to unpack the food and drink. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were currently hooking their PS3 up to the large television. Still shocked, Hiccup marvelled at the upper floor of the boat, which held three bathrooms, and six single rooms, all a decent size, yet more stairs leading to the topmost part of the boat, which was covered.

"I'm going to take a look at the top of the boat." Snotlout nodded. Hiccup handed him the remote-like key to get up there.

Shaking his head, he followed Astrid downstairs, where the two joined Ruffnut and Tuffnut in hooking up their games consoles.

"Holy shit. This wasn't on the photos." Snotlout laughed from the top floor.

The rest of the group rushed up three flights of stairs, to join Snotlout on the now open-top of the boat. And promptly, they choked on the bottles of Pepsi they had been drinking. There was a diving board at the bow of the ship, and there was a low table, and leather beanbags for drinking while playing cards in the evening- there was even a mini fridge

The controls for the ship were on the left, in a separate little booth.

"Wow." Hiccup admitted. "Okay, now that we're all done looking at my dad's ridiculous gift, can we go now?"

"Okay, walking fishbone." The others smirked.

* * *

Several hours later, just as the sun was setting, the gang collapsed into the beanbags on the top of the boat, Hiccup having dropped anchor. The evening was warm, perfect temperature, the city was nowhere to be seen behind them, and they could faintly make out Berk Island in the distance. The waves were practically nonexistent.

"I'm going to do some fishing, maybe I can catch something for dinner." Hiccup decided, getting up.

Snotlout decided to join Hiccup, and the two headed down, grabbing their equipment. Deciding to sit on the lower balcony, they threw the fishing net into the water, attaching it correctly to the boat, so they could pull it up quickly. Soon enough, they settled into deckchairs, holding their fishing rods, waiting.

"This is going to be a good summer." Snotlout commented.

"For once, I agree with you." Hiccup grinned.

* * *

After a full hour, and two cold beers each, they began to hear thrashing noises from something in the net, and Snotlout's fishing rod seemed to catch something. Bubbles rose to the surface. Hiccup attempted to pull the net up, and Snotlout attempted to reel it in, but it was far too heavy. Frowning, Hiccup took off his flip flops, pulling his goggles from the pocket of his swim trunks.

"What are you doing?" Snotlout asked.

"I'm going to check, we could've accidentally caught a dolphin, can't be too safe." Hiccup nodded, pulling on his goggles, before taking a deep breath and diving into the water, Snotlout holding an electric lantern above, so Hiccup could see better.

Swimming deeper, Hiccup found the end of the net, and found a long, large, blue, scaled tail, with large regular fins, as well as side and dorsal-like fins, which were of a lighter shade of blue, and looked feather-soft. The scales glimmered as if they had a sheen silver covering. Many deep bite marks covered the beautiful tail. The fish continued to thrash. Diving deeper, Hiccup almost choked.

It wasn't a fish.

Oh no.

It was a Merman. A genuine merman, as in the legendary mythical creature. This...Merman...had pale skin, with strange blue markings adorning his arms...along with many cuts and bruises. He was thin, and...Hiccup noted...the Merman was, truthfully, beautiful. Wide, electric blue eyes were set in an almost porcelain-like face, his ears were elegantly, almost elven pointed, and his hair was snow white.

Shaking his head to attempt to alleviate the shock, Hiccup noted the situation at hand. The merman had ceased his thrashing. Hiccup felt a twinge of guilt when he saw how tangled up the poor thing was- the net was wrapped round its neck, blocking his...gills, choking him, and his tail was equally as stuck. What's more, the large hook of Snotlout's fishing rod was piercing his lower tail, where a human's ankles would normally be. He looked bewildered, and scared.

Hiccup was running out of breath. He gave the Merman a comforting look, before making a sawing gesture with his hands, trying to convey he was going to get a knife and cut him free. He then swam back up, gasping for air when he broke the water's surface.

"Dude, I was beginning to think you drowned or something." Snotlout frowned.

"I need a sharp knife." Hiccup blurted.

"Dolphin?" Snotlout asked.

Hiccup didn't reply. Snotlout rushed to the kitchen, and quickly returned with a serrated knife. Hiccup took it, thanking the other teen, and dove back under.

The merman had since lost consciousness, and his lips and face were an interesting shade of pale blue. Working quickly, he soon freed the merman, and gave an apologetic look before pulling the hook of Snotlout's fishing rod free, a large amount of blood following it. Hiccup held the handle of the knife in his teeth, and got an arm round the merman's waist. He struggled to the surface, willing himself to he strong.

Several moments later, he broke the water's surface. Snotlout fell off his chair when he saw the merman, holding up the lantern, gaping when he saw the tail...and the blood. Snotlout took the blade from Hiccup, and put it aside, before helping his friend pull the merman aboard, fully onto the deck of the lower balcony.

"I know I didn't have that much beer." Snotlout pinched himself. "This is for real, isn't it?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, before beginning chest compressions on the merman, muttering curses under his breath.

"Go...get...the...others." Hiccup spoke between compressions.

Snotlout rushed off. Moments later, the merman finally let out a shuddering cough. His eyes were dazed, and unfocused, and he looked confused, as well as more than a little scared.

"Hey, it's ok." Hiccup spoke reassuringly.

" Oh my Odin." Astrid gasped as she appeared next to Hiccup. The others also crowded round, and the merman tried to back away, but found he could get no further than sitting up.

"Give him some space." Hiccup shooed them all away, and the others kept their distance.

Feeling even guiltier as the merman began to lose the energy to remain upright, Hiccup let him lean his head on his shoulder, getting his right arm round to support the merman's back.

"He's really hurt." Astrid tentivately knelt down opposite Hiccup.

Hiccup followed her gaze, now able to see better in proper light.

"Oh shit." He cursed.

Black and purple bruises covered the merman's torso, and the deep bite marks in his tail looked even more gruesome. Numerous cuts and bruises covered his arms, and the fishing net had left bruises round his throat. The merman's cheeks were flushed with what Hiccup presumed was a fever.

"Hey, can you understand me?" Hiccup looked down at the merman's pale face, which was now covered in a sheen of sweat. "We're going to help you."

The merman nodded weakly. Hiccup bit his lip. The merman was too heavy to carry, and it would be awkward finding him a place to rest. The merman sensed Hiccup's confusion, and closed his eyes, seemingly concentrated. A soft, blue light covered his tail, and, to the group' shock, his tail slowly began to vanish, slender legs taking shape. Getting what the merman was trying, Hiccup pulled his towel off of his deckchair, and wrapped the merman in it, the huge towel almost like a bathrobe on the shivering creature.

Within minutes, the merman had legs...albeit covered with scales the same color as his tail, and still with gruesome wounds.

"Hey, Tuff?" Hiccup spoke up, holding the shivering, now...more human-like teen closer to him, making sure the long towel was covering him. "Go grab a pair of my shorter swimming trunks. Snotlout, uh...put the fishing equipment away...Ruffnut, grab a bowl of clean water. And...Astrid? Grab a first aid kit."

No one objected to being ordered around for once, and rushed off to grab their assigned items.

Hiccup frowned as he felt the increasing temperature of the scaled young man, who was now unconscious, and winced at the slightest movement, & gave soft, almost pitiful mewls of pain. He had lost a dangerous amount of blood. Luckily, the others quickly returned, and left Hiccup alone when he asked. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup took the towel off, breathing out when he saw no leg wounds were above the lower thighs. Averting his eyes, Hiccup managed to get the short, blue trunks onto the former merman, before gently lying him down, with the rolled up towel for a makeshift pillow.

Silently thanking his mother for passing on her medical knowledge, Hiccup opened the first aid kit, and using gauze dipped in the basin of cold water Ruffnut had brought, began to clean away the blood from the scaled legs. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found no veins or arteries had been nicked, then groaned when he realized the amount of stitches he had to do. He disinfected the needle, and threaded it, before getting to work.

A full half hour passed before he was done with the leg wounds, and Hiccup stretched, finishing the job with bandaging. Yawning, Hiccup moved on to clean and bandage the cuts on the former merman's hands and arms, applying salve to the bruises, including the net marks on his neck. Upon further inspection, he found that the poor guy had two broken ribs, and the rest were cracked and severely bruised. He tightly wrapped the guy's chest in the correct way for healing. Wiping the sweat from his own forehead, Hiccup nodded at his good work, before calling the others back out.

"I'll..take care of this." Astrid retrieved the first aid kit and water basin, before disappearing into the boat.

"Not how I expected the first night to go." Tuffnut stretched.

"So...why didn't we take him to a hospital?" Snotlout asked.

"Merman? Mythical creature of legend?" Hiccup rolled his eyes. "The media would be all over him, and scientists...who knows what they'd do." He shuddered.

"You have a point." Ruffnut agreed.

Hiccup slid a hand under the former merman's slender, scaled, and bandaged legs, the other under his back. He slowly stood up, marvelling at how light the guy was now, and how he must be a head shorter than Hiccup. Carrying the guy kind of bridal style, he made his way up one flight of stairs, calling back to Astrid to get a coldpack from the freezer.

"There's this spare room...he can rest there." Hiccup got Snotlout to open the door to said room, which, like the others, had a large double bed. He used his elbow to turn the light on.

Astrid pulled back the soft, thick duvet, and Hiccup gently placed the former merman on the bed, so he was resting on his back, head resting on the plush pillows.

"You guys...um...could you make dinner? I'll make sure our...friend here is alright." Hiccup nodded.

Exchanging concerned looks, the others left. Hiccup pulled the duvet up until it rested just under the guy's chin. Just as he was placing the blue ice/cold pack on the guy's clammy forehead, he began to stir, eyes slowly opening. To Hiccup's shock, tears began to fall.

Tentivately, he reached to wipe the tears away.

"Its ok, it's ok." Hiccup spoke soothingly. You're safe now."


End file.
